College becomes attainable with Legion Legacy Scholarship

Jacob Mussi knew college was in his future. What he didn’t know was how to pay for it.

While searching for opportunities to make college attainable, Mussi came across The American Legion’s Legacy Scholarship. Mussi’s father, a disabled post-9/11 veteran, made him eligible to apply.

Last May, Mussi received an email that announced he was a 2017 American Legion Legacy Scholarship recipient. Upon seeing the email, Mussi and his father “went nuts. It blew my mind,” Mussi said. “I went from thinking I was going to have $200,000 in student loans to thinking that … this is going to work out. I can invest in my future.

“My father (Charles) can’t afford to fund my college so he was overwhelmed with joy. A potential burden has been swept out of the way.”

The scholarship is allowing Mussi, a physics student at Boston University, to focus on his academics rather than “focusing on financing them,” he said. “Having that steady stream of support is fundamental to making the college experience work. Because of help from The American Legion Legacy Scholarship and other scholarships, I have a lot of freedom that people in my age group don’t typically have because of restraint of finances.”

The Legacy Scholarship is available for children of veterans who died on active duty since Sept. 11, 2001, or have a combined VA disability rating of 50 percent or higher. Recipients of the renewable needs based scholarship can receive up to $20,000 each year. The application deadline for the 2018-2019 school year is April 9. Apply online here.

Following graduation from Boston University, Mussi hopes to pursue his doctorate and make a noteworthy contribution in his field of study. His determination to succeed in life is an attribute that he learned from his father’s military service, he said. And as a child of a military veteran, Mussi appreciates that The American Legion continues to support veterans and their families long after the servicemember takes off the uniform.

“Thank you goes without saying. Thank you so much,” Mussi said. “When you have a cause that’s important like (The American Legion Legacy Scholarship), just taking not only time out of your day but money out of your wallet to support somebody else’s problems is a type of generosity that I hope to have someday.”

Scholarships

The American Legion offers a number of scholarships and other resources to assist young people in their pursuit of higher education. There are opportunities for everyone, including kin of wartime veterans and participants in Legion programs.